Tuesday, November 30, 2010

We were disappointed to hear Bluewater Comics had decided to delay the publication of our Quatermain graphic novel, originally scheduled to ship this week, until early/mid 2011. Bluewater hopes to have new graphic novel distribution lines set up by then, which will give the book greater exposure.

We were mainly disappointed that comics fans are going to have to wait to see Patricio Carbajal's fantastic artwork.

But you won't have to wait too long...our issue of Vincent Price Presents will be out in December. More on that later.

Monday, November 22, 2010

We had a great time at the signing on Friday night! Despite the fact that both Clay and I were recovering from colds and our voices were still not quite up to par, the reading went off without a hitch. Our husky voices probably only contributed to the menace of the villains!

Flyleaf Books made us feel very welcomed, and its venue is so large for an intimate space. The folks who came out to see us enjoyed the event, and there were even some unique questions about the world of Vampire Empire. Luckily we had the answers. Also, there were new faces in the crowd, which heartened us that the book is indeed finding a following out there thanks to the buzz on the Internet. To our delight, even the steampunk community was represented!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

This woman is no doubt enjoying The Greyfriar, which is now available on Kindle. This is our first ebook, and it's pretty cool. Of course, Clay is still a paper book guy. The internet is great for research, but for just flat-out reading, he hasn't made the turn to ebooks yet. Susan has. She owns an ebook reader and is much more forward thinking. It is pretty nice to have your books available on your phone or e-reader or laptop, if you don't happen to have your copy in your bag.Greyfriar Kindle edition

Thursday, November 11, 2010

We'll be reading from The Greyfriar, talking about Vampire Empire, and signing books. If you are in the area, please come by and say hello. If you can't make it, call Quail Ridge to reserve an autographed book.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

This is a new show on Syfy. It's about a guy who owns a high-end Hollywood auction company who seeks out rare gizmos, props, and art associated with movies. It's sort of a geek version of Antiques Roadshow, and it could be better than it is. Unlike Antiques Roadshow, it's more about the host finding good stuff for "his" auction house rather than surprising normal people with the value of their unknown treasures, which is the joy of AR. Most of the people he deals with are professional collectors who already know what they've got and are just hoping to make a killing. Plus, the buyers at the auctions don't generate much sympathy either. There's no tension or real vicarious thrill in watching some guy drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on a Lost In Space prop. Obviously that just means that guy has hundreds of thousands of dollars to waste anyway.

But they did a bit on one show with Stan Lee and original artwork from FF #12. Of course, like all reality tv, it could've been a complete stage job. Still...outside the argument about whether Jack or Stan did most of the work, I want to believe there was a little wistfulness in the aging Stan as he flipped those old pages with original margin notes that he and Kirby did SO many years ago in the Silver Age of Marvel.

Staged or not, for those of us who lived through the great Lee-Kirby years at Marvel, and who have been lucky enough to work in comics, it was a cool moment.

Monday, November 1, 2010

The Greyfriar: Vampire Empire Book 1 is finally in boxes and moving to bookstores across America! The book shipped on Oct. 28 and we hope will show up on book shelves this week.

We can't tell you how excited we are. We have loved every minute of our relationship with Pyr Books and Lou Anders, editorial director. The publicity people, headed by Jill Maxick, have been great. Our technical crew -- Peggy Deemer and Deanna Hoak -- are pleasant and professional. And, of course, the beautiful cover by artist Chris McGrath and Grace Conti-Zilsberger makes us happy every time we see it. And we thank our agent, Ann Collette, for her confidence.

We've been thrilled with the reviews, which you can find linked on this blog and on our Facebook pages, and on Pyr Books website. It's nice when readers seem to get what you're going for.

"Let’s face it. There is a lot of steampunk fiction coming out right now, and of course, a dizzying amount of vampire fiction, and pretty much every new novel in either category claims to reinvent its genre. Every now and then, however, a book comes along that actually does. Clay and Susan Griffith’s The Greyfriar, the first installment of their new Vampire Empire series, may not be the first novel to blend steampunk and vampires, and it may be composed of numerous recognizable plots, and yet it manages to recalibrate the old stories and tropes with such genuine ingenuity and seeming effortlessness that it never fails to feel anything less than utterly original and dazzlingly new. The Griffiths use pre-existing mythology–vampiric and otherwise–playing off our expectations in such a way that the twists and the manner in which seemingly unconnected threads ultimately connect prove to be legitimately surprising.

I decided to read this novel, because I found the synopsis on the back cover intriguing, but it didn’t quite prepare me for how deeply in love with this book I would fall. It has elements of alternate history, steampunk, war, politics, satire, adventure, action, graphic novel, romance, horror, suspense, and more, and yet all of these well-worn elements join together in a manner that is completely unique. The pacing is perfect, the character development stunning, and the narrative twists and turns superb. It also has an appealingly sly sense of humor that manages to infuse even its darkest sections with humanity and warmth. It succeeds on every level and seems to invent whole new ones. If you’ve grown tired of vampires and/or steampunk, The Greyfriar is the paradoxical cure for what ails you–a vampire steampunk novel that makes both genres feel shiny and new again."